Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord – Ephesians 5:10

Category Archives: Science

According to the Special Days in August list, the 14th is the anniversary of the invention of Wiffle Ball. Wiffle Ball is one of the best backyard activities! The game doesn’t require expensive equipment, a large area, or a lot of people. It’s wonderful for PE and science (and history too)! Here’s some resources to learn about the history of the game, the science behind the Wiffle ball, and the rules on how to play.

The 2018 August calendar has loads of special days! The following list is made up of August’s holidays, observances, food themes, awareness days , famous birthdays, science and historic based anniversaries, and more. So, if you want an occasion to celebrate, pick up some trivia, or add foods to your menu, this is the right place for you. And, of course you’ll find multiple opportunities for “on the calendar” themed studies for your classroom, homeschool, co-op/support group, or club.

Resources for teaching throughout the month, including a free PDF of Special Days in August, can be found at the end of this list.

August Awareness and Observance Themes

Admit You’re Happy

American Adventures

Artist Appreciation

Back To School

Black Business Month

Breastfeeding

Cactus

Child support Awareness

Children’s Eye Health and Safety

Crayon Collection

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Family Fun

Get Ready for Kindergarten

Glenn Miller Festival (UK)

Golf

Happiness Happens

Hug

Immunization Awareness

Inventors

Minority Donor Awareness

Motorsports

Mutt-i-grees Rescue

National Parks

Psoriasis Awareness

Read a Romance Novel

Reading Festival (UK)

Romance Awareness

Science, Medicine, and Technology

Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness

Tomboy Tools

Traffic Awareness

Truancy Prevention

Water Quality

What Will Be Your Legacy

Win with Civility

August Food Themes

Catfish

Celery

Coffee

Family Meals

Fennel

Kiwifruit

Orange

Panini

Papaya

Peach

Picnic

Sandwich

August 2017 Daily Specials (the * means that the special day does not fall on the same date each year)

Special Days Archive – Direct links to the most recent Special Days and Resource Lists for every month.

I make my monthly Special Days lists by using several sources including old calendars, holiday books, newspapers, and the web. If you know of a special day that I do not have listed, please comment and let me know what it is so I can add it in. Below are the links to my favorite online calendar resources for August.

July 22, 2018 is the official start to the 30th year of Discovery’s Shark Week! This must be a popular summer learning theme for homeschools, summer schools, and families, because there’s awesome resources available! Here’s the resource links to what is being shared in the Facebook home education groups and through my e-mail subscriptions.

“Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?” asks Indiana Jones, and this homeschooling mama is asking that too! I know some people who have pet snakes and enjoy them and others who have extreme fear of them. Growing up in Kentucky, I’ve even heard rumors of snake handling in churches! Personally, I’m in more of a basic “just avoid them” category. Honestly, I’d rather avoid a snake study but “July 16 – World Snake Day” was marked on our list of Special Days in July , which means it’s an interest study request. I don’t want to say no to an interest study, and it’s been a while since we did an animal research project, so …

Here’s my collection of cross curriculum snake themed resources to share with you for when you find yourself facing a snake study.

Snakes in Art – Statues, paintings, pottery, drawings, and more, from ancient to modern day, and from all over the world. (Again, Heads up! Not all will be appropriate for families, but you can easily choose which pieces suit your study.)

Printable Snakes and Ladders Game – “When you download the game, you will get a printable board and a set of question cards. With every move the player has to answer a question in order to stay on their new position. This game comes with the questions of the World of Knowledge game. But you can create your own set of questions. But you can also play it without any questions, just roll the dice and have fun!”

I couldn’t find a “snake” math resource so I’m thinking I can use some printable math task cards for the above Snakes and Ladders game.

There’s hundreds of thousands of snake related videos on Youtube and I’m sure we’ll watch a few of them. Since we’re fans of “Good Mythical Morning” I have this one saved for ‘fun?‘ and a crazy PE idea (not real snakes but maybe a rubber one or two).

I’ve already been to my local library’s website and put some snake books on the hold shelf. We don’t have a zoo in our area, but we do have nature centers and pet stores, so I think a field trip can be easily planned to wrap up our snake study.

These photos are showing a few of the flowers we have growing in our backyard. We’ll be looking at them closely as we venture on to our next summer school study.

American Flowers Week begins June 28th and that’s a wonderful time to begin a summer school study about flowers! Here’s a fantastic list of free cross curricular resources for learning about and with flowers!

“American Flowers Week is the advocacy, education and outreach campaign …” Find out more about the celebration and how to participate at their website! https://americanflowersweek.com/

Here’s the list of July themes, foods, scientific and historic anniversaries, and famous birthdays. There’s some summer fun days, too! Whether you’re looking for something special to study, trivia, a day to celebrate, or a food to add to the menu, the July 2018 special days list gives you plenty to choose from!

Free resources for teaching throughout the month, including a PDF of Special Days in July, can be found at the end of this list.

July Awareness/Observance Days and Themes

Air-Conditioning Appreciation

Anti-Boredom

Bereaved Parents Awareness

Bison

Bio-terrorism/Disaster Education and Awareness

Black Family

Blondie and Deborah Harry Month

Cell Phone Courtesy

Dog House Repair

Family Reunion

Freedom From Fear of Speaking

Herbal Prescription Awareness

Independent Retailers

Irrigation

Make a Difference to Children

Parks and Recreation

Read An Almanac

Share a Sunset

Tennis

Tour de France

Unlucky Month for Weddings

Wheelchair Beautification

Wild About Wildlife

Women’s Motorcycle

Zine

July’s Food Themes

Baked Beans

Berry

Blueberry

Culinary Arts

Eggplant

Garlic

Grilling

Horseradish

Hot Dog

Ice Cream

Lettuce

Ice Cream

Mango

Melon

Nectarine

Picnic

July, 2017 – Daily Specials: (the * means that the special day does NOT fall on the same date every year)

July 1

Battle of Gettysburg 1863

Be Nice to New Jersey Week begins *(1st full week)

Build a Scarecrow Day * (1st Sun)

Burundi Independence Day 1962

Canada Independence Day 1867

Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day

Princess Diana born 1961

International Joke Day

Music For Life Week begins *(1st full week)

Postage Stamp Day

Roswell UFO Days

Rwanda Independence Day 1962

Second Half of the Year Day

Somalia Independence Day 1960

Special Recreation Week begins *(1st full week)

Transistor Introduced 1948

Unassisted Homebirth Week begins

Ventriloquism Week *

World Lumberjack Championships *

Zip Code Day

1st US Zoo (Philadelphia) 1874

July 2

Civil Rights Act passed (US) 1964

Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury born 1489

Fence Painting Days begin

I Forgot Day

International Day of Cooperatives

Made in the USA Day

Tom Sawyer Days begin

World UFO Day

1st Zeppelin Flight 1900

July 3

Air-Conditioning Appreciation Days begin

Chocolate Wafer Day

Compliment Your Mirror Day

Disobedience Day

Dog Days begin

Eat Your Beans Day

Farriers Week

Idaho Statehood 1890

Plastic Bag Free Day

Stay Out of the Sun Day

Superman Day

July 4

Boom Box Parade Day

President Calvin Coolidge born 1872

Country Music Day

Freedom Week begins

Independence Day (US) 1776

Indivisible Day

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day

July 5

Apple Turnover Day

P.T. Barnum born 1810

Bikini Day

Graham Cracker Day

Tynwald Day

Venezuela Independence Day 1811

Work-a-holics Day

July 6

President George W. Bush born 1946

Children’s Art Day (UK)

Fried Chicken Day

Malawi Independence Day 1964

16mm Movie Camera and Projector introduced 1923

Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day

World Kiss Day

July 7

Cherry Pit Spitting Day (1st Sat.)

Chocolate Day

Father – Daughter Take a Walk Together Day

Global Forgiveness Day

Hop-a-Park Day (1st Sat.)

Macaroni Day

Pinocchio first printed 1883

Strawberry Sundae Day

Tell the Truth Day

July 8

Blueberry Day

Chocolate with Almonds Day

Liberty Bell cracked 1835

Math Day

SCUD Day (Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama)

Video Games Day

1st Issue of The Wall Street Journal 1889

July 9

Argentina Independence Day 1816

1st Rock and Roll Song to reach #1 on Pop Music Charts , “Rock Around the Clock” 1955

I make my monthly special days calendars by using several sources including old calendars, holiday books, newspapers, my old journal notes, and the web. If you know of a special day that I do not have listed, please comment and let me know what it is so I can add it in. Below are the links to my favorite online calendars.